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Posted by: GateKeeper

Inmate assaults counselor: Prison worker repels con’s attack
By Michele McPhee and O’Ryan Johnson
Friday, December 30, 2005 - Updated: 03:01 AM EST

An inmate attacked a female counselor during a session at MCI-Gardner yesterday but the victim fought off the brutal assault, sources and a prison spokeswoman said.

Department of Correction spokeswoman Diane Wiffin, who refused to identify the male inmate, said a “physical attack” was carried out on a woman working for DOC health-care provider UMass Correctional Health.

Two DOC sources familiar with the case identified the inmate as a convicted child rapist. They said the inmate sexually assaulted the woman, a mental health therapist, in the E building of the medium-security facility, a three-story structure where inmates go for counseling and outside activities. The woman fought off the attack and was not raped, they said.

The building should be staffed by two corrections officers and a sergeant, but there was only one guard on duty when the attack occurred, the sources said.

“No one was there to even come to her aid. She put up a vicious fight,” said a DOC source. “The COs did not get to (the inmate) until he was halfway across the yard back to the cells.”
The DOC sources said the inmate is serving a lengthy sentence for raping a 12-year-old girl. The woman was not hospitalized as a result of the attack.

The DOC sources said yesterday’s attack was “eerily similar” to the brutal 1997 attack on a therapist at the state’s Treatment Center for the Sexually Dangerous in Bridgewater, who was held hostage and raped repeatedly as the inmate, MacArthur Denson, held corrections officers at bay.

“This could have been another case of what happened in Bridgewater, no question,” said the source of yesterday’s attack. “There are three floors in this building, and only one corrections officer? What’s wrong with that system?”

Denson used a sharpened television antenna to threaten his victim, then barricaded a door in a meeting room with furniture and blocked out a window so no one could hear her scream, authorities said at the time of the attack.

Denson was already serving an 18- to 25-year sentence on a rape charge and a concurrent 10- to 12-year sentence for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, prison officials said. He has since been convicted of two additional rape charges and was among the prisoners transferred from Walpole’s Disciplinary Disorders Unit earlier this year after cell doors there spontaneously opened, allowing inmates to escape.

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Posted by: USMCMP5811

“This could have been another case of what happened in Bridgewater, no question,” said the source of yesterday’s attack. “There are three floors in this building, and only one corrections officer? What’s wrong with that system?”


Exactly, WTF is wrong with the system?

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Posted by: GateKeeper

Whats wrong with the system is the DOC Management and a lack of. Enough said. 2 CO's and a Sgt should have been on duty in that building. But only 1 CO was there. Budget cuts, a freeze on overtime, the lack on hiring new CO's to back fill those who have left.

This is a crisis that is being played out through out the prison system. My friend, it's only going to get worse.

I've only been doing this for about 8 yrs, and I'm more afraid now then I've been in the past.

The one thing I was told I can count on (in the past) was the wave of blue coming to your aid when you needed it. That wave of blue for help has turned into a trickle at best.

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Posted by: KozmoKramer

Gate - why no "man-down" device on these counsellors?
I mean if they are going to be 1-on-1 with these scumbags in a closed session,
should'nt they have some sort of trigger to alert the officers that there is an assault in progress.

And what if this con was 6' 4", 280? You still have a 1 to 1 ratio?
I cant imagine every Correctional Officer out there is physically capable of singularly subduing any inmate that crosses the line; am I right?

Seems like everyday you guys on the front lines walk a fine line of potential disaster and it doesnt have to be that way..

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Posted by: dcs2244

What is wrong with the system can best be summed up with the following question:

"What ICU is the convict a patient at now?"

Exactly. More smacks, fewer attacks.

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Posted by: wheelofmisfortune

The wave of blue and boots pounding are long gone! I watched a response at a certain facility the other day that was goddamn frightening. It seemed like about four or five minutes went by before a responder showed up. Management is willing to pull bodies and run super short to save money rather than run things right. The cons know it and things are heating up. Maybe something will get done my baby girl is on the cover of the globe crying at her daddy's funeral. But even then they will blame me or another line officer, the union and sick time usage for a death. Not the fact that they have no minimum staffing levels or that a really sick individual did something that was going to happen no matter what! Blame the blue shirts! Nothing has been done since the Gardner incident that I know of. We weren't even informed at our facility, we heard it on WAAF. What a joke? Do not take this job if you are not ready to witness the worst run public administration in the country. Family first, you second and your job last. Do not be a hero in this job, nobody cares. You could save a supers life one day and be out of a job the next. NO HEROES PLEASE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcs2244 What is wrong with the system can best be summed up with the following question: "What ICU is the convict a patient at now?" Exactly. More smacks, fewer attacks.

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Posted by: SGT_GRUNT_USMC

The administration of the DOC is a national disgrace .They care more about inmate rights than officer safety or victim rights for that matter.I was a CO for over 5 years in the DOC.I worked at Walpole and SBCC. (I'm a Las Vegas Metro police officer now).There are alot of good guys that are CO's that do the most dangerous and thankless job in law enforcement.They deserve better leadership, training, and equipment to safely do thier job.They deserve justice to be served when an officer or staff member is assaulted.Here in Nevada, battery by a prisoner is a felony and an inmate will be prosecuted for any assault on any peace officer.

Semper Fi,

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